


Why Can't We?

by dreamkist



Category: The Slipper and the Rose (1976)
Genre: Fairy Tale Retellings, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-14 23:18:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13600551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamkist/pseuds/dreamkist
Summary: Sometimes it takes a Fairy Godmother to reinvigorate a marriage.





	Why Can't We?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TadpoleGlee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TadpoleGlee/gifts).



Cinderella sat at her vanity and brushed her dark hair in long strokes. Outside, snow was falling on the castle, and she was alone in her large bedchamber. She set the brush down and felt the silence of the room like a weight pulling her down. She eyed the bed that seemed to dominate the room. It was perfectly made, waiting for her and her husband. But where her husband was she didn't know.

As she looked at the bed, the Fairy Godmother suddenly appeared.

“Well, here you are. What is it, my dear?” she asked in her brusque way, “You are in the castle now; you are princess. Why do you look so morose?”

Cinderella smiled at the woman who had done so much for her. She was glad to see her again. “I am grateful for everything you did,” she paused. “It’s only Edward and I seem to have lost the spark, the magic, we had in the beginning. Now I feel like I don’t know him at all. We're practically strangers.”

“It’s perfectly common for people to feel that way as they settle into a relationship and lose the fire they had at first,” the Fairy Godmother said. She seated herself in a chair before asking, “What have you tried to do about it? Are you trying to get to know him?"

"Well, no, I suppose I haven't done anything. I don't know how to speak to him about it. Besides, Edward seems to spend more time with John, his friend, than with me. They're always together, and it's difficult to find time alone with him."

The Fairy Godmother seemed to contemplate Cinderella's words. "And this friend, John, would you say he and Edward are very close?”

Cinderella felt a slight fear at what that question might mean. “They have been companions for many years. Edward even knighted John.”

"I see," she replied. "Is John an attractive man?" she bluntly asked.

The question startled Cinderella, but it seemed the Fairy Godmother was waiting for a response, so she said, "Yes, I suppose he is." Where exactly was this conversation going?

After a moment of silence she told Cinderella, “I have considered the situation, and I believe the solution to your problem may be more obvious and easier than you think. Sometimes all that is required is willingness and an open mind."

Cinderella was unsure what that meant. “I’m just afraid the magic between us was only that - magic - and now Edward and I will have a passionless marriage.”

“Everything in life isn’t sweeping gestures and musical numbers.” The always harried Fairy Godmother stood to leave. “You’re loved, and that’s more than can be said for many people. If you want your marriage to work, you’ll have to go about making it work for yourself.”

She blinked out of the chamber and left Cinderella alone with her thoughts.

~

Cinderella walked through the long halls of the castle to find Edward. The hour was late, and she shivered in her thin shift in the cold hall. Edward should have been in bed, but he was still spending many late nights somewhere else. She heard voices coming from the library and saw warm light spilling from the open door of the room. As she neared she recognized Edward’s voice, along with John’s, as they devolved into boyish laughter. They were speaking too low for her to distinguish what they were saying, so she moved nearer the door to hear them.

“I say,” Edward exclaimed, “look at this one.”

She peeked around the door and saw Edward seated in a chair by the fire with John standing behind the chair and leaning over to examine the open book Edward held.

“Gracious,” John said and leaned in closer. They grinned at whatever it was they were looking at in the book. They looked like two naughty schoolboys with their heads together. Edward murmured something she couldn’t hear, and John placed a hand on Edward’s shoulder. She could see how John squeezed that shoulder with his strong hand. The motion was familiar; they were so easy together.

She was reminded that she and Edward had become somewhat distant with each other. As she watched them, John slid his hand over and tugged at the cravat tied tightly about Edward's neck. Edward tipped his head to the side to allow John to loosen the fabric. She felt an unexpected warmth travel through her at the sight of them and that intimate gesture. Perhaps this was what the Fairy Godmother had been alluding to about the men's closeness. Watching them when they thought they were alone, she could see there was affection there. Why hadn’t she noticed it before?

As soon as that realization dawned, Edward closed the book and looked up. He noticed her in the shadows of the hall.

“Cinderella,” he said, surprised. John drew away from Edward and stood straight. She saw them both suddenly become stiff and formal with her presence.

Her instinct was to turn and flee, but she ignored it. She didn't have any reason to fear them or the situation. “I was wondering what was keeping you,” she said to Edward as she boldly stepped into the room.

“I was showing John this new book,” Edward explained. He tried to hide the cover of the book from her eyes.

That only served to further her curiosity. “Oh? What sort of book is it?” she asked. Despite the meekness she usually presented, she was not as innocent as Edward might want to believe. She had an idea of what it might be.

John shifted and Edward froze for a moment as he tried to think of a response. “It’s a satire,” he finally said. “A bit off-color. Nothing you would be interested in.”

He clearly didn’t want her to know what it was, and she was feeling oddly forward in the moment. “Show me,” she said in a strong tone and stood behind the chair by John to look over Edward’s other shoulder.

Edward slowly, hesitantly opened the book. She could sense the two men were nervous. But she was intrigued, and the Fairy Godmother's words about willingness and an open-mind came back to her.

The book had opened to an illustration of a mass of people in – interesting positions. She leaned over the chair to better examine the page just as she had watched John do. The same sensation she had felt as she watched the men surged through her again. In the book, both women and men performed _acts_ on each other. Looking at the figures in numerous positions, she felt her pulse quicken and her excitement grow.

Her cheeks were as flushed as theirs had become in her presence. She finally pulled herself away from the captivating image and decided to deliver her verdict to the men. “It seems an interesting book,” she said, and before she considered it too much added, “Perhaps we should retire to our chambers where we may discuss it privately.”

Edward craned his head up to look at her in disbelief, and John gripped the back of the chair with both hands. The moment dragged on, so she began to exit the room. Someone had to take charge, and she was evidently the one with the nerve. She felt their eyes following her until Edward stood to leave with her.

Cinderella stopped and looked back to the other man to ask, "Are you coming, John?"

He seemed to be frozen in place, and Cinderella was quickly learning how exhilarating it could be to have this power over them. The men exchanged meaningful looks, she would be able to communicate so easily with the both of them soon enough, then John took the first step toward them.

She tried to maintain a slow pace to hide her eagerness as she led the way to the bedchamber.


End file.
